Restaurant Insider

If you've been to a bar on Capitol Hill lately, there's a good chance it was one opened by Linda Derschang.
Since launching the bar Linda's (707 East Pine St.) in 1994, Derschang has been on a major roll, piloting some of the hippest hangouts in the neighborhood, including Oddfellows Hall and Smith. And now she's about to open two more: the Bait Shop and Tallulah's, both also in Capitol Hill (as Leslie Kelly reported in our November issue).

Matthew Dillon is putting the pioneer back in Pioneer Square. Opening two new places early next year, the local star chef is shoving the neighborhood into contention for the city’s new hot spot.
“I grew up in Seattle and spent a lot of time in this neighborhood. I want to stop complaining about how it’s not what it should be,” said this year’s winner of the James Beard Foundation Award for the best chef in the Northwest.

The runner-up on my list of Fall's Most Exciting Restaurant Openings (second only to the craziness that will surely accompany the opening of Shanik on December 3rd), Mamnoon is opening in a converted warehouse across from the Melrose Market. And that opening is happening...today, November 20th!

Like many of you, earlier this week I giggled and snickered at Pete Wells' New York Times all-question takedown of Guy Fieri's Times Square behemoth, Guy's Kitchen and Bar. It's the most emailed Times article right now, and why wouldn't it be?

All set for Doomsday?
It’s coming right up, you know. At least that’s what the latest mailer from Pagliacci says.
Yes, we’ve been hearing about December 21, 2012 as the end of the Mayan calendar for years, and some predict the end of the world as we know it.
But for a restaurant/pizza delivery chain to actually embrace it as a sales and marketing tool?
Pretty darned crazy/brilliant!
This fall/winter newsletter pokes fun at the never-ending string of doomsday predictions. Remember Y2K? What a bust.

Last year, I took the idea of having three days in Seattle to do nothing but eat, eat and eat some more, and I used that as a guide post for the varied restaurants we included in the Best Restaurants issue.
Our list of the 7 Restaurants that Define Seattle Dining Now was—and to a large extent, still is—my idea of how to taste the best in Seattle dining in one very filling weekend.

No matter how this election turns out, most people are ready to celebrate the end of a bitter, seemingly endless campaign season.
Here are a few places to get your drink on among your fellow civic-minded citizen while votes are tabulated:
The Pink Door’s pouring $1 Obamaramas (that’s the restaurant’s original concoction of fresh grape juice, vodka made in the U.S.ofA., a squeeze of lemon and curaco, starting at 3 p.m. The 104-inch TV will be tuned to live television coverage tracking the races.

Tom Douglas and his wife, Jackie Cross, didn’t heed the “shelter in place” advice, but instead headed out Monday evening to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, while Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast.
“It was really kind of eerie,” said Seattle’s most famous chef, who was in NYC on a book tour, promoting The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. “There was really nobody on the street. The wind was howling at about 80 to 90 miles an hour. Rain was blowing sideways. It was pretty cool.”

Plum Bistro, the family-owned and all-vegan restaurant on Capitol Hill—known for hearty meatless burgers and signature “mac ‘n’ yease” (plus incredible dishes chock-full of locally-sourced and organic ingredients)—wants to go mobile.
Owner/chef Makini Howell is using the online crowdfunding program Kickstarter to help raise the $28,000 needed to bring Seattle its first vegan food truck, which her staff hopes will “spread the vegan magic to the nonbelievers” beyond the restaurant's homebase on Capitoll Hill.

We've been telling you about Meeru Dhalwala's Shanik, the most anticipated restaurant opening of the year, for a while now. (Pick up our November Best New Restaurants issue to read our full-length preview of Vij's much-anticipated sibling restaurant!)

Danielle Custer, who old-timers like me remember from her chef jobs at 727 Pine and Fullers in the Sheraton, and who more recently worked at Taste SAM, is launching Monte Cristo, a gourmet grilled cheese truck on Monday, October 22nd at Starbucks in Sodo (for more current whereabouts, visit Monte's website or Twitter page).

Some kitchens have revolving doors. Chefs come and they go, sometimes shouting, screaming, laughing. But that's the restaurant business, ever-fluid, never a dull nanosecond.
Still, I was flat-out bummed to hear the news that Chester Gerl is leaving Matt's in the Market. Yes, of course, I understand. He's de-camping to NYC to be close to family. Plus, he's got a kick-ass job waiting for him thanks to Top Chef Masters judge Jonathan Waxman. (More about that in a jiff.)